Discontent in TRS over joining NDA

Discontent is brewing in Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) over party president K. Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR)' s unilateral decision to join the BJP-led NDA to achieve the goal of separate Telangana.

Though a discussion on the issue of the TRS extending support to the NDA had been going on within the party for quite some time, the sudden announcement by KCR took the party leaders by surprise.

Except a few leaders, who accompanied him to Delhi, nobody in the party was aware that he would be attending the NDA rally at Ludhiana last Sunday, till the media broke the news.

"We were under the impression that the TRS would take it up (considering the option of supporting NDA) after seeing the election results. But the way he hurriedly declared his support to the NDA came as a shock to us. We really do not know what exactly KCR wanted to achieve by doing so, but if the NDA does not come to power, his strategy would boomerang on the party," said a TRS legislator, who has been opposing KCR's dictatorial behaviour right from the beginning.

According to him, KCR does not follow any democratic principles in the party while taking decisions.

"He takes decisions unilaterally and thrusts them on the party. And nobody would dare oppose him. If the decision clicks, he takes the entire credit. But if it fails, he blames it on senior leaders of the party," the TRS leader said.

He cited the example of KCR forcing his party MLAs and MPs to resign from their posts in 1998, which proved to be a historic blunder - the party lost miserably in the by- elections, as it lost nine assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats; KCR himself managed to scrape through in Karimnagar by less than 15,000 votes. Subsequently, he blamed the party leaders at all levels for the miserable performance.

This time, too, the party leaders are apprehensive as to whether KCR's strategy of declaring support to the NDA well before declaration of results would prove correct.

"If the NDA comes to power, KCR's decision would be helpful to the Telangana cause. But if the NDA fails to get majority, the TRS cannot go back to the Third Front option, since the Left parties would not allow it. The party cannot even come back to the UPA since the Congress is not willing to grant a separate Telangana," another TRS leader said.

There is another argument in the pro-Telangana leaders' camp.

"KCR should have extended support to the NDA long ago, without joining the grand alliance. Had it happened, the TRS could have got more seats. At least now, he should have waited till the election results for taking such a decision," Telangana employees' union leader Ch. Vittal, who resigned from his job to join the Telangana party said.

If the NDA does not come to power, then the TRS would be totally isolated in the state politics.

In such a case, there is likely to be a revolt in the party against KCR, as had happened in 2007, when 10 out of 26 TRS MLAs came out against his dictatorial attitude.

Almost all of them joined the Congress recently.

This time, the anti-KCR camp is expected to be led by his own nephew and Siddipet MLA T. Harish Rao, who is highly disgruntled over KCR's unilateral decisions.

"Watch out for interesting developments in the TRS after the declaration of election results," a party source said.

Courtesy: Mail Today